An Inherent Need For Speed

Courtenay snowboarder Megan Chamberlin will represent B.C. at the 2007 Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse this winter.

The B.C. halfpipe team has recruited 16 year old Megan Chamberlin. She will participate in dry land and snow training camps at Whistler, Big White and Mammoth, California between now and February.

The Canada Winter Games are held once every four years. This year, snowboarding is a demonstration sport; the halfpipe and parallel grand slalom are test events this year. Chamberlin has been snowboarding since she was 11, when an inherent need for speed became fully apparent to her family.

She entered her first competition in 2004 at age 13, placing third at the Sprite Series Slope-style at Whistler. In 2005, consistent top-three finishes in provincial competitions were enough to qualify her for the Canadian national finals. However, a broken wrist put the brakes on the rest of her season.

Chamberlin returned with a vengeance in 2006, placing third in the Honda Pro-Am and first in her age group at the provincial finals in slope-style. Although she didn’t win the halfpipe competition, her performance was impressive enough to earn an invitation to try out for the B.C. snowboard team.

The prospect of boarding some of the best terrain in North America appeals to Chamberlin. “I’m really excited to go to Mammoth Mountain to train, and of course, I love shredding the park in Whistler,” she says.

Chamberlin received a travel grant in 2006 from the Vancouver Island Mountain Sport Society. Since 2004, VIMSS has helped local athletes compete and train at home and off-Island.